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NMPF’s Detlefsen on the False Promises of ‘Lab-based’ Dairy

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

Much like plant-based imitators, precision fermentation technology is a sector working to create so-called animal-free dairy products. However, Clay Detlefsen, National Milk Producers Federation Senior Vice President and Staff Counsel, says a real dairy product cannot be made with precision fermentation technology. “We’re seeing a lot of folks right now really misleading the public as to what they’re doing. You cannot make a real dairy product with fermentation technology,” he said in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters.

Milk and Dairy Are Critical to Child Nutrition as Children Return to School

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Milk Is Essential to Child Health and Development, Yet Is Under Consumed

As nearly 50 million children return to public school, a group of dairy and nutrition advocates is encouraging parents and policymakers to prioritize the health of students by making milk and dairy options more accessible in the coming school year.

A fact sheet released today by the group highlights that milk is the top source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin D in kids ages 2-18. However, according to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, American children over four years old and adolescents are not consuming enough dairy to meet the recommendations in the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), thereby under consuming a variety of nutrients they need to grow.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and the School Nutrition Association (SNA) look forward to working with parents and school nutritionists to increase consumption of dairy in keeping with recommendations from the 2020-2025 DGA report and leading health organizations. Moreover, because of falling participation rates in school breakfast and lunch programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and removal of universal free meals in the upcoming school year, there are growing concerns for nutrition security among students.

“Dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own have for generations taken pride in the fact that the milk they produce is critical in meeting the nutritional needs of schoolchildren,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Milk makes school meals more healthful and offering many varieties of milk encourages children to consume these products vital for their own development. From low-fat flavored to lactose-free options, parents, educators, and policy leaders overwhelmingly agree that milk on the menu encourages healthy kids and ensures that everyone has equitable access to the 13 essential nutrients milk provides through school meals.”

“The most recent DGA report is clear: children are not receiving enough essential nutrients for growth, development, healthy immune function, and overall wellness,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA. “School meals offer the most important opportunity of the day for children to get the essential nutrients they need in an 8-ounce serving of milk. Now is the time of year when our parents, educators, school meals professionals, and policymakers need to work together to encourage school meal participation and nutritious milk consumption each day. Survey data shows the best way to do that is by offering many varieties of milk, including different fat varieties, flavors, and lactose-free options. There is nothing more important than the health of our children.”

“Research shows children eat their healthiest meals at schools, which provide balanced nutrition including milk, whole grains and a variety of fruits, vegetables and lean protein.  School nutrition professionals are committed to ensuring access to and promoting consumption of healthy school meals to support student success,” said SNA President Lori Adkins, MS, SNS, CHE.

An overall decline in school milk consumption has been identified in recent years, particularly after whole milk and low-fat flavored milk options were removed from school meals more than a decade ago. The fact sheet released by the group today underscores how all milk is a source for 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D and potassium—nutrients of public health concern for children. In addition to being nutritious offerings for children, flavored milk has been shown to decrease food waste from school meals and increase overall meal participation.

View the fact sheet here.

U.S. and Mexico Dairy Sectors Recommit to Binational Cooperation

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Leading dairy representatives from the United States and Mexico gathered at Dairy Farmers of America headquarters in Kansas City this week to discuss strengthening cross-border cooperation on dairy issues. The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) served as the U.S. hosts and event organizers. Mexico’s delegation at the meeting included representatives from the Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas (CNOG), Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Leche (AMLAC), Gremio de Productores Lecheros de Mexico, Cámara Nacional de Industriales de la Leche (CANILEC), and Consejo Nacional Agropecuario (CNA).

On their fifth annual meeting within the framework of the partnership to strengthen the productive sector for milk in North America, held in Kansas City, the U.S. and Mexican dairy industries hereby agree to:

  1. Preserve, facilitate, and enhance fair trade between the two
  2. Preserve this forum for discussion and analysis of the relevant topics and issues of the milk and dairy producing sectors of Mexico and the United States.
  3. Have as a key objective the expansion of dairy consumption in both countries to the benefit of producers, manufacturers and consumers in the United States and Mexico. Promote joint activities that help increase the consumption of our dairy products within our region.
  4. Identify and promote actions that improve the productivity of dairy farms in Mexico and the United States.
  5. Continuously seek to strengthen the image and reputation of milk and dairy products in both countries to defend against the improper usage of milk and milk product names by other products of non-dairy origin.
  6. Maintain an open communication channel between the milk and dairy producers’ organizations of both countries, with the aim of achieving consensus for the benefit of our Likewise, exchange information and successful experiences through the participation of members of both countries in forums and congresses organized by our associations.
  7. Work on the strengthening of cooperation in the areas of technological exchange and training, both in terms of milk production at the farm level and in food safety and quality improvement of milk and dairy products from the nutritional standpoint.
  1. Work on sharing information on key new areas such as sustainability, animal welfare, farm labor, and other issues as they appear and mutually agree to the benefit of our producers and industry to ensure that we coordinate efforts to defend dairy in international forums and with consumers. Exchange information about the market trends of milk and dairy products in the North American region.
  2. Continue activities in defense of common food names, in particular, cheese names, allowing their free use in our North American market.
  1. Develop a work plan on the topics of the common agenda, with a follow-up scheme with scheduled meetings.

NMPF’s Bjerga on Lab-Based Dairy Alternatives

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

 

NMPF Senior Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the need for transparent labeling on so-called “lab-based” dairy products, on RFD-TV. Current alternatives that replicate a single dairy protein may lack essential micronutrients or the interactions that take place as part of being an animal product, while sustainability claims may be overstated.

Burkholders Sustain a Dairy for Generations to Come

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

In farming, success often means creating an operation that can sustain the next generation. And that requires embracing change. That balance of continuity and innovation is what Clint Burkholder and his family have tried to achieve.

“Things change very rapidly on the farm,” said Burkholder, owner of Burk-Lea Farms near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. “We’re striving to do the best that we can. We care for our animals. We care for the land. We need to treat the animals, treat the environment and everything to the best of our ability, because if we don’t, it won’t be there for the next generation.”

The Burkholder family, a member of Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, milks 850 Holsteins, raises roughly 700 heifers and cultivate 1,400 acres of cropland. Animal care and environmental conservation is part of the business plan; they house their cows in free-stall barns with sand bedding and use cover crops and no-till on their cropland to benefit soil and water quality. The farm also has a manure separation system and a water recirculating system to recycle water.

For more of the family’s story and more profiles of innovative dairy farms, visit NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page.

Read the Profile Here

 

NMPF Commends Climate Provisions in Senate’s Inflation Reduction Act

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) commended the inclusion of $20 billion in new funding for USDA conservation programs in the Inflation Reduction Act which passed the Senate today.

The funding, spearheaded by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, will help dairy farmers advance their proactive sustainability leadership by enhancing farm bill conservation programs with an emphasis on key dairy areas of opportunity, including feed management. The new investments will provide important voluntary technical assistance to dairy farmers who undertake such stewardship practices, including targeted new funding that emphasizes critical farm practices that yield significant environmental benefits for dairy.

“Dairy farmers seize environmental sustainability opportunities whenever possible,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “The funding increases in this package will better position dairy farmers to effectively implement the dairy sector’s Net Zero Initiative and fulfill its 2050 environmental stewardship goals. We are very grateful to Chairwoman Stabenow for her success and leadership in securing this meaningful new conservation investment, which will be a game-changer for dairy.”

Dairy farmers in 2020 committed in their Net Zero Initiative to become greenhouse gas neutral or better by 2050, while also maximizing water quality and optimizing water use around the country.

Key wins for dairy among the climate-smart ag provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act include:

  • $8.45 billion in new funds for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides important technical assistance to dairy farmers, targeted toward stewardship practices that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
  • $25 million annually for Conservation Innovation Trials, with new funding targeted toward initiatives that use feed and diet management to reduce the enteric methane emissions that can comprise roughly one-third of a dairy farm’s greenhouse gas footprint. NMPF is excited for this opportunity to amplify its focus on reducing enteric emissions; and
  • $6.75 billion in new funds for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which funds locally developed, targeted partnership projects, emphasizing initiatives that incentivize or target reduced methane emissions.

NMPF and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives last year led a coalition of 12 agricultural and conservation organizations on a letter advocating for significant new funding for climate-smart agricultural practices while opposing tax policy proposals that could have undermined the transfer of family farms from one generation to the next. NMPF is pleased that those tax policy proposals are not included in this legislation and thanks the many members in both parties who advocated against them.

NMPF also looks forward to continuing to work with both Republicans and Democrats to enact climate and conservation policy into law. Last year, the Senate passed the Growing Climate Solutions Act, authored by Senator Mike Braun, R-IN, and Chairwoman Stabenow by a vote of 92-8. More recently, the House Agriculture Committee adopted the SUSTAINS Act authored by Ranking Member Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-PA, by a voice vote. Last month, NMPF worked with Reps. Jim Baird, R-IN, and Jimmy Panetta, D-CA, to secure new funding for animal feed additive approvals in pending appropriations legislation.

Pat Koch Joins NMPF’s Finance and Administration Team

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

Pat Koch has joined NMPF as the organization’s finance and administration manager. In this role, she is responsible for vendor management and accounts payable for NMPF, CWT, the American Butter Institute, REAL® Seal program and contract administration for NMPF’s service contracts with Dairy Management Inc. and USDEC. Pat joined NMPF after relocating from Wisconsin, where she was Administrative Project Coordinator for M3 Insurance. Prior to that, she lived and worked in California. Her other business experiences include being the Lead Production Accountant for Pixar (A Bug’s Life), Financial Analyst for Disney and owning her own dog bathing and grooming business, Rub-A-Dub Dog Bath.

July CWT-Assisted Dairy Export Sales Totaled 4.7 Million Pounds

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

CWT member cooperatives secured 27 contracts in August, adding 3.7 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 110,000 pounds of butter, 44,000 pounds of whole milk powder and 866,000 pounds of cream cheese to CWT-assisted sales in 2022. In milk equivalent, this is equal to 44 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. These products will go customers in Asia, Central America, Middle East-North Africa, Oceania and South America, and will be shipped from July through January 2023.

CWT-assisted 2022 dairy product sales contracts year-to-date total 57.2 million pounds of American-type cheese, 459,000 pounds of butter, 6.5 million pounds of cream cheese and 28.6 million pounds of whole milk powder. This brings the total milk equivalent for the year to 797 million pounds on a milkfat basis.

Exporting dairy products is critical to the viability of dairy farmers and their cooperatives across the country. Whether or not a cooperative is actively engaged in exporting cheese, butter, anhydrous milkfat, cream cheese, or whole milk powder, moving products into world markets is essential. CWT provides a means to move domestic dairy products to overseas markets by helping to overcome U.S. dairy’s trade disadvantages.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.

FARM Evaluators Annual Conference Held in Fort Worth

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program hosted its annual conference for evaluators July 18-19 in Fort Worth, TX.

The two-day conference brought together nearly 70 FARM evaluators representing dairy cooperatives and processors throughout the country to discuss program updates and emerging research. The conference also offered attendees the opportunity to network with other evaluators and engage with program staff.

During the conference, evaluators heard from experts on a variety of topics relating to the FARM Program’s priority areas, including environmental stewardship, biosecurity, workforce development and animal care speakers. NMPF staff members Emily Yeiser Stepp, Sage Saffran, Miquela Hanselman, Jamie Jonker, Ph.D. and Beverly Hampton Phifer were among the subject matter experts who presented during the conference. Attendees toured the Fort Worth Stockyard and a nearby dairy farm and feedlot during their visit.